Tamara's Trial
by MondayWren
Summary: The iron trial from Tamara's point of view.
1. Chapter 1

Tamara walked stiffly through the Iron Trial halls. She knew that there were a lot of kids that had no idea that they were there to be accepted into the Magisterium, but there were also others who knew exactly what was going on and knew exactly who Tamara was.

As she walked deep in thought, some kid from behind her ran right into her, she shot a glare at the boy with ink black hair, foggy gray eyes, and _a limp_? Oops.

"Sorry." The kid said.

Tamara felt kind of bad, "we're all nervous." Her attempt at an apology.

Jasper rushed to catch up with her and they left the poor kid far behind. That was too bad, she'd rather talk to the weird kid then Jasper who pretends that he's so high and mighty when he's really not.

He smirked, "That weird cripple over there is probably oblivious to the fact that this is the Iron Trial. And after he loses, he won't remember."

Tamara glared at him, "Don't be mean, Jasper." She hissed. And took her seat at the desk with her name in it. The crippled kid sat in front of some jock and while the blond kid smiled, the crippled boy ignored him.

"Please keep your books closed until the test has started." Master Milagros said. She knew most of the mages already, they often came to some of the more important meetings and parties that Tamara's family hosted. She noticed that the crippled boy wax the only one who had opened his book.

Master Milagros said something about the Magisterium, all of which Tamara already knew, then the Mage lifted her arms and there came an illusion of the Magisterium's caverns. The crippled boy didn't seem in awe. Did that mean he was the son of a former student?

"what if you don't want to go?" The crippled boy said.

huh. Maybe the boy was the son of a student who left the Magisterium after the Third War.

Sge listened to Master Milagros scold the boy and a kid named Drew Wallace, "Thise if you who are legacies know the dangers untrained mages pose to themselves and others."

To Tamara it felt like an icicle impaled her heart, she felt everyone turn to stare at her, including the crippled boy, she sat up straight and ignored everyone's gaze.

Master Milagros answered questions that Tamara already knew the answer to until the walls went back to original stark white. "You may begin."

Tanara opened her book and slowly wrote out equations and rules. The boy seemed to have trouble with his pen. She looked back at her test when there was a sudden boom and a fountain of blue ink sprayed the crippled boy. The blond jock scrambled to hide under his desk while the boy attempted to shut off the pen. His entire face was blue by the time he finally dropped the pen and the fiasco ended.

"Callum Hunt. Please, please leave the room and clean yourself up, then wait in the hall until the group rejoins you." Master Milagros said. Someone was laughing hysterically, but Tamara couldn't tell who it was.

Callum met Tamara's eyes and she tried not to start smiling. He stumbled out of the room and everone errupted into laughter. She wondered why Callum had his limp. She thought about all of her training at home, why did the last name Hunt sound so familiar?

Tanara was the first to finish her test and she waited outside to wait for the rest of the aspirants. Callum wasn't back yet and he still wasn't back by the time all of the kids finished their tests. Why did she care? Jasper stood beside yer and explained why he was going to be in the same group as her, even though Blond Jock finished right after she did. Callum limped back to join the group and he was still mostly blue.

"The freak with the ink." Someone said and a few others giggled.

"nice look with the shirt." Jasper said, and Tamara resisted the urge to kick him. "For your sake, I hope the next test doesn't involve explosions. Or, oh, wait-I hope it does."

"Shut up." Callum said.

Tamara whispered in Jaspers ear, "yeah, shut up Jasper."

Master Milagros called out some names and Tamara joined her group. Jasper who was acting weirder than usual began to hug her and wish her good luck.

"Hey Kylie." Callum said.

"Would you mind not talking to me?"

Tamara winced. Ouch. The kid had to move faster to keep up with the regular pace of the group. Tamara turned to talk to Rafe-someone in her group.

the next test was rope climbing and Tamara could barely see the other groups around the corners. Aaron climbed up the ladder faster than anyone and hit the ball loose from the top. Jasper did terribly which Tamara found hilarious.

Tamara braced herself on the first rung of the ladder and pushed up with her free foot. She used air magic to propel herself upward faster than the ladder could fall and she too hit the ball loose. She grinned and then remembered her parents and her face fell. Everyone was clapping for her but Tamara didn't really care.

Callum was arguing with Master Rockmaple who was in charge of his tests until finally grumbling and glaring, Callum went up to his ladder. He put his leg on the rung and pushed up, his face screwed up in pain as he fell back to the ground. There was a boom and their rubber ball began to burn. Tamara hid a grin.

Tamara sat at one of the desks, "Are we supposed to have pens?" Rafe asked.

Tamara shook her head, "They're testing us on air magic; levitating the paper."

She turned her thoughts on the paper and it lifted unsteadily toward the sky. "Well done Ms. Rajavi." Master Milagros said.

There was shouting from the room across the hall, "It's just paper!"

The group moved on and joined the others in the hall. Callum was being avoided, he was almost completely blue and he smelled like burning rubber.

Tamara went after Callum and when she went into Master Rufus's room there was broken glass and smoke everywhere. Wow! How many tests can one person completely ruin?

Tamara passed Callum who now has another layer of blood in his shirt. She sat completely composed next to her parents.

"You got second place." Mr. Rajavi said

"That's good isn't it?"

"You didn't get first place like Kimiya." Mrs. Rajavi said.

Tamara pursed her lips but said nothing as Aaron got called down. "Tamara Rajavi."

She descended the bleachers without emotion even though in her head she was shouting and congratulating herself.

"And my last apprentice will be Callum Hunt." Tamara stared at Callum in shock. He got the first negative score in Magisterium history and Master Rufus chose him?! Callum met Tamara's eyes but she was too shocked to react. "I said Callum Hunt, Callum Hunt please come down here."

"You can't have him!" Mr. Hunt told Master Rufus.

The two began yelling at each other and Tamara inched closer to the bleachers with Aaron in tow. Callum looked conflicted, his father held him tightly so Callym couldn't have went with Rufus if he wanted to. Callum whispered to his father but Mr. Hunt shook his head. Tamara was scared for Callum, his dad looked crazy. His eyes wild, he hauled Callum to his feet and dragged him down the bleachers, Callum was trying to keep his balance with his unsteady feet.

"Enough!" Master Rufus's voice cut through the air like knives, "The boy stays here."

"haven't you killed enough of my family?!"

Tamara and Aaron exchanged a look. The arguing continued and finally the mages took Callum by the arms and forced him over to Tamara and Aaron.

Suddenly something glinting twisted through the air straight at Callum's heart. Aaron stopped the knife and yanked it from the air, "I guess this is yours right?"

"Thanks." Callum said, but he didn't sound too grateful.

Tamara couldn't help it, "That was your father?" She could see why Callum was so... Angry all the time. She couldn't look at him in the eyes.

"yeah, he wants me to be safe."

Tamara highly doubted that.


	2. Chapter 2

Tamara stared out the window where Jasper and Callum were arguing viciously. Aaron sat beside her, "He doesn't seem like a very... nice kid." Aaron said

Tamara shrugged, "With a father like that I think we're lucky he turned out less crazy than his father."

Jasper sneered at Callum and got onto a different bus. Callum boarded Tamara's bus and looked a little crestfallen. His lips pinched together like he was remembering something and he sat down in the middle of a large gap of seats. Tamara spoke quietly to Aaron, "Do you think he'll ever lighten up?"

Aaron raised his eyebrows, "What about you? Will you ever lighten up?"

Tamara glared at him and returned to staring out the window. The buses drove for an hour and a half before it pulled into a rest stop. Tamara bought a small bag of chips and boarded the bus, this time across the aisle from Callum who sat in the back of Aaron.

"Do you know where they're taking us?" Callum asked.

tamara was surprised, he hadn't spoken nearly at all to any of them... ever! "The Magestetium. You know the school? Where we're going to be apprentices?"

Tamara grinned but remembered herself and went back to her expression of not caring. "But where is it exactly? Where are the tunnels? And do you think they lock us in our rooms at night? Are there bars on the windows? Oh wait, nope-because there aren't going to be any windows, right?" Callum sounded paranoid.

"Uh, chip?" Aaron asked.

Tamara almost didn't say anything but then remembered that her parents weren't there to judge her, "Are you actually deranged?" She supposed it was kind of a mean question but she said it in the nicest way she could muster.

"you do know that when we get there, we're going to die, right?" Tamara smacked herself in the forehead in her mind. He sounded as crazy as his dad looked.

"All of us?" A girl named Celia asked.

"Well, no, not all of us, obviously, but some of us! That's still bad!"

"who told you that?" Aaron said, "About us dying?"

"My father. He went to the Magisterium, so he knows what it's like. He says the mages are going to experiment on us."

Tamara raised an eyebrow. "Was that the guy who was screaming at you at the Trial? Who threw the knife?" Aaron said.

"He doesn't usually act like that." Callum looked flustered and Tanara actually felt bad for him.

She lowered her voice to keep the conversation between only then to make it less embarrassing for Callum, "Well, he obviously went to the Magisterium and he's still alive. And my sisters there. And some of our parents went." She hoped that was enough to stop Callum's tangent.

nope.

"Yeah, but my mother is dead." A shiver rushed up Tamara's spine as he spoke. She remembered all the people who died in history.

"-she must have graduated first." Celia said

"a war. There was a war." Callum said.

"well that's not very specific. But if it was your mother, it had to be the third Mage war. The Enemy's war." Tamara said, in her head listing off every fact that had to do with the third Mage war.

Callum seemed exasperated, "All I know is that they died somewhere in South America."

Celia gasped. She seemed like a nice enough girl to Tamara but she was a total drama queen.

"so she died in the mountain." Jasper said, who had apparently reboarded onto Tamara's bus.

"The mountain?" Asked a skinny boy with a pony shirt.

"The Cold Massacre." Said Gwenda. "Don't you know anything?" She was harsh, "haven't you heard of the Enemy Drew?"

"Which Enemy?"

"The Enemy of Death! He's the last of the Makaris and the reason for the third war."

Many others still seemed confused and Tamara had to remind herself that not everyone had been so vigorously trained like she had been. "Most mages can access the four elements." She told them, "Remember what Master Rockmaple said about us drawing on air, water, earth, and fire to make magic? And all that stuff about chaos magic? They bring something from nothing and that's why we call them Makaris. Makers. They're powerful. And dangerous. Like the Enemy."

"being the enemy of death doesn't sound that bad." Now Callum was just being annoying to be annoying, "It's not like death is so great. I mean, who wants to be the friend of death?"

was he serious? Tamara launched into one if her father's lectures on The Enemy, meanwhile seeing the faces of the other students grow more solemn.

"And that's probably what he's still doing, just waiting to break the treaty." Jasper said, happy to contribute some of his widespread knowledge.

Tamara continued her story, the one she'd been told every day for the past eight years. Verity Torres was her hero.

"he expected them to die easily." Celia said, reciting the same story Tamara had been told. "It was just kids and old people and a few parents with babies. They tried to hold him off. They killed the chaos ridden in the cave, but they weren't strong enough to destroy the Enemy. In the end everybody died and he slipped away. It was brutal enough that the Assembly offered the Enemy a truce and he accepted."

"None of the good magicians lived?" Drew asked weakly.

"Everybody lives in pony school." Callum muttered.

Rage filled Tamara's entire body. She Had grown up hearing about the terrible things that the Enemy did and this kid was joking about all theses deaths including his own mother?! "What-what did you say?"

"nothing"

"you're unbelievable!" Tamara couldn't find the right words to explain how disrespectful Callum was, "your mother died during the cold massacre and you joke around about her sacrifice! You act like it was the mages fault instead of the Enemy's."

Callums face was red and Tamara hoped he felt ashamed. "If your mother died on the mountain, where were you?" Celia asked. Obviously trying to create a peace between Callum and Tamara that wasn't there, which made Tamara angry all over again.

"In the hospital. My leg was messed up when I was born and I was having an operation." He was definitely ashamed about that, "I guess she should have just stayed in the hospital waiting room, even if the coffee was bad."

"you are a disgrace! Half the legacy kid sat the Magisterium have family who died on the mountain! If you keep talking that way, somebody's going to drown you in an underground pool and nobody's going to be sorry including me!" Immediately after she lashed out on Callum, she wondered if maybe Callum felt like his mother abandoned him.

Tamara felt Aaron's hand on her shoulder and the rage just grew fiercer, "but it's like he doesn't care! They were heroes!"

"no they weren't." Callum shot back at her, "They were victims. They got killed because of magic and it can't be fixed! Not even by your enemy of death, right,"

Tamara felt something that felt like understanding sink in, even if she was still upset, and she would never admit it, but she could see Callums point. And she argued with imaginary Callum in her head as she discussed the chaos ridden with the others.


	3. Chapter 3

Callum was the first one off the bus since he didn't have any luggage, and for a teeny tiny moment Tamara felt a twinge of pity. They walked through the Magisterium which wasn't as cool as it would've been if she hadn't grown up to pictures and books all about it. But even Callum seemed impressed as he limped behind the others. But as they entered their personal common room for only the three of them, Tamara's eyes shone.

"it's amazing." She breathed. She picked up her metal cuff carefully, she could feel Callums eyes on her. "Wow."

"Are they magic?" Callum asked.

Master Rufus launched into a long explanation about the magical cuffs, all of which Tamara already knew.

"We generally find it better to let new apprentices settle in their rooms the first night instead of getting overwhelmed in the refectory, so you'll eat here this evening," Tamara was disappointed, she was looking forward to seeing the refectory.

"These plates are empty." Callum spoke like they were all insane.

"So they are, but not for long. Now picture your favorite meal." Tamara thought of sushi, and mochi! And green tea! Oh, she loved green tea but her parents thought she should like black tea better.

"Call. Is anything the matter?" Master Rufus asked.

"Can you hear my thoughts?"

Tamara rolled her eyes and Master Rufus looked at her, "Tamara, can I read Call's thoughts?"

"Mages can only read your thoughts if you're projecting them." She answered.

Aaron and Callum asked some stupid questions, none of them Tamara was paying any special attention to, until it was her turn. Happily, Tamara took her plate and sat down next to Aaron. Callum got a plate of breakfast lunch and dinner, how he could eat so much? Tamara didn't know.

"Can I call my father." Callum asked, and everyone stopped what they were doing to look at him, he sounded so hopeful that Tamara almost felt guilty,"I mean, is there a phone I could use? I don't have one of my own."

Tamara remembered when she got her first phone. She was only eight and she really hadn't wanted one, but her parents insisted that it would make her more responsible, and there was no arguing with her parents.

"Cellular phones don't work in the Magisterium, Callum. We're too far below ground for that." Obviously. "Nor do we have landline phones. We use the elements to communicate. I would suggest we give Alastair some time to calm down." Tamara would suggest that also, like maybe eighty years when the maniac would be long dead. "And then you and I will contact him together. Now, I expect the three of you up and dressed at nine tomorrow-and furthermore, I expect you to be sharp-witted and ready to learn. We have much work to do together, and I would be sorry if you didn't live up to the promise you showed at the Trial."

Tamara bit back a comment about how Callum's potential would blow up the entire school and kill off all of the students and teachers. But then she noticed Callums disgusting plate. "What if you get ranch dressing on your spaghetti?" Tamara wondered why she cared so much.

"Then it would be even more delicious."

She tried not to gag "Gross."

Callum seemed defensive, maybe she offended him, "Where do you think they get the fresh fish for your sushi, since we're in a cave? Bet they took a net down to one of those underground pools and nabbed whatever came up. Glued lurp."

How immature could a twelve year old be? "Guys. You're putting me off my macaroni."

"Glurp lurp." Callum said again, probably just to annoy the two of them.

Without a word Tamara matched angrily over to the couches so that she didn't have to look at him. Nobody was as annoying as Callum, not even Jasper!

After a long silence, Callum stood up noisily, "I'm going to bed. Which one is mine?"

"Our names are in the doors." Aaron said. Tamara looked over, she actually hadn't noticed that.

"Oh."

Once Callum was out of sight, Aaron moved to the couches also. "He kind of walks funny, don't you think?"

Tamara looked over at Aaron with a mixture of horror and surprise, she didn't know that he could be so mean, despite that a nervous giggle and escaped from her throat, "Aaron." She said in a hushed voice, "That's so mean."

Aaron flushed, "It was a comment. I didn't mean for it to come out as mean."

Tamara laughed for real this time, "You're so innocent that you can't even believe that someone could be mean."

Tamara wondered why someone as innocent as Aaron would notice, but then someone like her was too focus on his eyes to realize that he couldn't walk. It didn't seem right.

"Do you think that we'll see any of the chaos ridden?" Aaron asked nervously.

"No." Tamara told him with certainty, "The Masters will keep us safe."

Aaron looked around with a newfound safety in his eyes. He smiled, "yeah, I guess you're right. I'm going to bed."

Once Aaron left, Tanara was alone. She looked around at the towering walls and felt so intimidated that it scared her. She put her plate down on the coffee table and slipped into her room. But when she saw the enormous room and the magical feeling, she felt so fake and wondered if anyone could see through the mask she wore. She curled up on top of her blankets and stared at the ceiling through bleary tears.

But Tamara was so tired from the long day that despite her racing thoughts, she fell asleep in an instant.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, Tamara fussed over her hair, knowing that her sister would be so disappointed if she didn't look perfect. Kimiya always looked perfect. Tamara always admired her, she was so mature and Tamara wanted to be just like her.

The bell rang but Tamara was ready, Kimiya told her in the safety of the park when they were practicing that the bell sounded like a dying giraffe. She grinned a little at the memory. There was a loud thump and Tamara raced out of my the bathroom. Aaron had heard the sound too and they both burst into Callum's room.

He was on the floor with his face screwed up in pain, "Ow."

"it was just the bell. It means it's time for breakfast." Aaron told him.

Callum looked ready to cry. Tamara didn't want to see him so upset, then she noticed a glint on his bed, "Did you sleep with your knife?"

Callum's face turned tomato red and Tamara felt guilty again.

"Some people have stuffed animals. Other people have knives." Aaron said, trying to lighten the mood.

Tamara sat on his bed and Callum stated up at her as she inspected the knife. Callum pulled himself to his feet and he moved slower than yesterday, wincing in pain.

"What does it say? Down the side, Semiramis."

"I bet you're pronouncing it wrong."

"And I bet you don't even know what the name means." It actually wasn't a word, but a name. The daughter of an Assyrian goddess and a king. She was one of the founders of Babylon. "You should call her Miri for short. She's a nice knife, really well made."

"Miri." Callum said softly as if mulling over the idea.

She didn't even realize she was sitting there staring at Callum's stormy eyes until a tugging at her sleeve pulled her back into the real world. "C'mon Tamara, let Call get dressed."

Tamara didn't want to leave.

"I don't have a uniform."

Tamara pointed to the foot of his bed as Aaron dragged her out of his room, "Sure you do. It's right there." She managed to get out another sentence before Aaron completely dragged her silently struggling body out of Callum's room, "We all got them. They must have been brought in by air elementals."

Aaron pushed Tamara through the doorway and slammed the door, "you like him."

"What?" Asked Tamara, startled, "I do not! He drives me crazy!"

"You so like him." Aaron insisted.

Before Tamara could protest Master Rufus slammed through the door, "Where is Callum?"

"He's getting dressed." Aaron said

Rufus looked up at the ceiling in annoyance, "Sit."

Tamara and Aaron sat sullenly in the couches, while Master Rufus glared at them in silence. She hoped Callum would just come out already.

Finally Callum pushed through the door and Tamara blushed when she realized that she though Callum looked rather handsome in his uniform.

"The three of you are late. The morning alarm is a call to breakfast in the first refectory. It's not your personal alarm clock. This had better not happen again or you will miss breakfast entirely."

Tamara already didn't eat enough at home as it was. Her parents thought that a young lady like her should not eat as much as she did, "But we-"

master Rufus spun around to lock her in place with his icy gaze, "Are you going to tell me that you were the ready and someone else made you late Tamara?" She looked down, hating to be a disappointment. "Because then I would tell you that it is the responsibility of my apprentices to look after one another, and the failure of one is the failure of all. Now what was it you were about to say?"

Tamara wished she could hide under a rock, "Nothing master Rufus."

Tamara saw out of the corner of her eye that Callum was struggling to keep up with the others and Tamara unconsciously slowed down just a little bit.

Tamata was not at all surprised by the large assortment of odd food because she had prepared for even this. "Please tell me Madter Rufus is going to turn this into something else." Aaron groaned.

Tamara laughed. She didn't laugh often. "You'll see."

"Will we?" Asked a boy, was his name Jake? No, Drew.

"Where's the coffee?" Callum asked Aaron.

"You can't drink coffee is bad for you. Stunts your growth."

"but I drank coffee all the time back home, I drank espresso." Callum said sadly.

"There's that weird tea."

"But I love coffee!"

"I miss bacon." Celia said. Tamara didn't like her.

"Caffeine withdrawal makes you crazy, I could snap and kill someone."

Celia laughed her ugly laugh. He hadn't been joking and Tamara desperately didn't want it he two of them to he friends.

"he could kill someone. He has a huge knife in his-"

"Tamara!" Aaron said, obviously trying to tell her to stop ruining his social life.

Tamara smiled innocently at Callum before sitting down at one of the stone tables full of Iron year apprentices but not before using air magic to levitate wobbly lichen onto his plate. She looked around ferociously for her sister. "My sister, Kimiya." She was so beautiful and matured and Tamara wanted to be just like her. She waved lazily but at the same time looked proud and wise.

"So do you have any family here?" Callum asked Aaron.

"No." Tamara felt terrible, "No family anywhere. I heard about the Magisterium from a girl I used to know. She saw this trick I did sometimes when I was bored-make dust motes dance around and form into shapes. She said she had a brother who went here and even though he wasn't supposed to tell her about it, he had. After he graduated and she left to go live with him, I started practicing for the Trial."

Out of the corners of her eye, Tamara saw Jasper waving his arms around like a maniac. She ignored him. But then Callum nudged her with his elbow and gestured to Jasper. She scowled at Callum, now she would have to answer him.

"I see the three of you have grown very close already."

Jasper was throwing extravagant gestures at her and Tamara already knew what he was asking her to do, and she hated it. "Do you think you would ever reconsider about Jasper? I know it was his dream to be picked by you," Master Rufus's expression was growing more and more intimidating, "and there's room for more in our group-"

"The three of you are a team. You're going to work together and fight together and yes even eat together, for the next five years. I have chosen you not just as individuals, but as a combination. No one else will be joining you because that would alter the combination." Suddenly his entire demeanor changed and he rose from his chair in a whoosh, "Now rise! We go to our first lesson."


	5. Chapter 5

Tamara's heart pounded. She'd been told about the mystical boat rides but she wasn't at all prepared. A salty smell stung Tamara's nose and she knew that they were close. Aaron got into the dull gray boat first and helped Call, who looked ready to murder someone, into the boat. She got in feeling a bit unstable.

Master Rufus droned on about the transportation and stuff she already knew. For once she would like to know what it felt like to listen to her teachers and learn something new her parents hadn't forced her to learn. They were plunged into darkness and Tamara held back a shriek. She let out a tiny whimper and hoped that the others hadn't heard. The moss glowed brightly ahead of them. Tamara was impressed, it was so much cooler than Kimaya had made it out to be.

On the other side of them, two Masters were playing air magic checkers, something she had only a little bit of experience in. They stopped so suddenly that Tamara lurched forward. The others seemed unfazed so she wondered if it was only her own inexperience with water and boats. Tamara got out after Aaron and this time Call shot a death glare at poor Aaron and tumbled out himself, nearly falling into the filthy water in the process.

"Come" Rufus said and started quickly down the cold path.

Rufus walked straight through a solid door so Tamara, wanting to seem like she was unsurprised, followed him without hesitation.

Master Rufus continued to blabber on about the five principles of magic. She didn't think that she needed to listen, after all, that's all her parents would talk to her about for the past few years. She wondered quietly how the other two boys perceived her. Did they think she was smart? For some reason this was very important to her.

She wrote down the five principles in her notebook, subtly moving away from Call as he shook his own pen.

"During the tests," Rufus continued, "all of you displayed power. But without focus, power is nothing. Fire can either burn down your house or warm it; the difference is in your ability to _control_ the fire." He looked pointedly at Call but Tamara didn't think he noticed. But then his gaze swing around and locked Tamara into a sharp stare. "Without focus, working with the elements is very dangerous. I don't need to tell some of you just how dangerous."

Tamara held his stare with a flushed face and Call looked up at Rufus and then to Tamara and she felt exposed like the world knew everything about her.

Rufus continued as if he'd never implied something so personal. "Can you guess why I've set up the room this way, then?"

"I'm guessing you need help fortifying your sandcastle?"

Tamara bit back a smile. This kid was mouthy. She liked that, it was refreshing after a long twelve years with her stuffy parents.

And then Rufus said something completely ridiculous. He told the three of them to sort the grains of sand. Dark and light . . .

What?

"Seperate out the sand?" She choked out. "But . . . Shouldn't we be learning something more useful? Like fighting rogue elementals or piloting a boat or-"

"Two piles." He interrupted, "one light, one dark. Start now."

This wasn't at all what Kimaya said the Magisterium would be like. "Don't we even get a tool kit?"

"well, I guess we should start." Aaron said in a strangled voice.

The two of them sat down side by side. Call winced as he lowered himself to the ground in front of them. Tamara started first, naming off the category with every grain.

"I can't believe I was worried magic school was going to be dangerous." Call said and Tamara was surprised that he willingly told them he had assumed wrong. Tamara wouldn't have done that. She wasn't as brave as Call she supposed.

"Yoy could die of boredom." Aaron said.

Tamara smiled and Call snickered. Aaron was funny and cute.

"The thought of that is the only thing that's going to keep me going." She added.

They sorted sand for hours. Call kept shifting the way he was sitting and Tamara wondered why Rufus hadn't even gotten Call a chair. Tamara was angry at herself that this wasn't easier for her. After so many years of training and it was almost like she hadn't learned anything at all!

A cute tall boy brought them some food but Tamara felt almost sick and she had no appetite.

Aaron was the one to break the silence. "Come on, or we're going to have to eat dinner down here."

Call's face screwed up in anger and the sand he was sorting exploded, causing all of their hard work to become undone.

Tamara drew in a breath. "What-what did you do?"

Evwn Aaron looked ready to murder Call. Hours of work, gone!

"I-I- it just happened." Call said in a weak voice.

Tamata was preparing to speak calmly and tell them that it was okay, but instead she said, "I'm going to kill you. I am going to sort your guts into piles."

She hadn't meant to say that. "Uh." Call let out a strangled sound. His face was pink and she knew immediately that he regretted it.

Tamara looked away, not looking at Call as she kicked all the sand back into one heaping pile.

The rest of the day was such a blur she barely remembered what happened at dinner.

"Maybe today was a test?" Tamara said hopefully.

They were so tired they didn't even have to slow down for Call.

"Yeah, maybe." Aaron didn't sound too hopeful.

Call said nothing. He only struggled to keep up with them and stared at nothing.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day it was obvious that the first day was not a test. Tamara's anger at Call had subsided when she remembered when she'd blown up her book when she was seven. She had gotten in so much trouble and even her sisters were disappointed in her. The sand pile was exactly how they left it. The two boys looked down at the pile, their expressions blank.

Aaron finally spoke up, "But when we're done we can do other stuff, right?"

Tamara wouldn't count on it. They sat back down on the rough sandy floor and resumed their tedious work. Her brain was going fuzzy but after so many years of lessons she'd gotten used to the feeling. The pile of sand wasn't shrinking as they worked. The grains of sand were just too small to make a difference.

"Look." Call finally said. Tamara looked up to see his black hair dusted with sand and a guilty expression on his face. "You guys are good at this right? The best mages in the test. Top-ranked."

"I guess." Tamara said with a small voice. It wasn't like that really mattered when it came to sorting freaking sand! "The best in our year, anyway."

"Okay, well, I'm terrible." Tamara wanted to tell Call that he wasn't that bad at magic but she couldn't get the words out of her mouth. "The worst. I was in last place and I've already messed things up for us," Was that an apology? "so obviously I don't know anything. But there must be a faster way. Something we're supposed to be doing. Some lesson we're supposed to be learning. Is there anything you can think of? Anything?"

Tamara's mind immediately fled to sympathetic acceleration, something that would definitely get this job done faster, but it was also the thing that had killed her sister Ravan.

"What? Is there something?" Call asked hopefully.

Numbly, Tamara explained everything she knew about the topic. She knew that she shouldn't be endangering her friends like that, but it was like she had no control over what was coming out of her mouth lately.

"Eat the sand? You have to be kidding." Call looked absolutely disgusted.

"It's kind of dangerous, because of that whole First Principle of Magic thing. But it works for the same reason. You're closer to the element-like if you're doing earth magic, you eat rocks or sand, fire mages can eat matches, air mages might consume blood for its oxygen. It's not a good idea, but . . ."

"How do you know this?"

Did Call just want to talk about it or were they actually going to do some magic? "My dad. He taught me how. For emergencies, he said, but he considers doing well on a test an emergency. I've never done it, though, because it scares me." Because of Ravan. "If you get too much power and can't control it, you could get drawn into an element. It burns away your soul and replaces it with fire, air, water, earth, or chaos. You become a creature of that element. Like an elemental."

Aaron looked a little confused. "One of those lizard things?"

Call looked scared, his gray eyes wide.

Tamara shook her head and tried to look more relaxed for their sake, "Elementals come in all sizes. Small like those lizards, or big and bloated on magic, like myverns and dragons and sea serpents. Or even human size. So we'd have to be careful."

"I can be careful." Call said and Tamara almost laughed. "How about you, Aaron?"

"Anything is better than this." He said in a defeated voice. "And if we finish faster than Master Rufus expects, he'll give us something else to do."

Tamara's heart felt like it was going to explode into a million shattered pieces. Why did she even bring this up? "Okay. here goes nothing." Tamara stuck her wet finger into the pile of sand and shoved the grainy tip of her finger into her mouth.

"Now what?" Callum asked.

"Now we concentrate." Tamara didn't want to be the one to go first.

One of the boys caused the pile of sand to lurch upward in one smooth motion. colored sand floated in a cloud around them and Tamara wondered how something so beautiful could be so dangerous. She stared at the sand, her mouth dry. She shouldn't have said anything. she should have lied and said that she didn't know any faster way. What was she thinking?

"Your turn." Call said.

Luckily Aaron nodded. "Absolutely." He split the sand into two groups of light and dark.

Instinctively, Tamara drew a sandy spiral in the air. The spiral of chaos, she realized. The spiral of being consumed by an element, after all chaos and burning sould weren't too far apart.

Suddenly the wall opened and Master Rufus strode through. She was so startled that she made a squeaking sound.

"What have you done?" He looked furious and all Tamara could think of was Ravan. He looked straight at Tamara and gave her a look she understood completely. Why would she risk using the very thing that killed her sister? She was asking herself the same question.

"I-we didn't mean-" Aaron started. He probably wasn't used to getting in trouble. Tamara was only used to getting in trouble with her parents. She was always the golden child.

"Aaron, be quiet." She could see slight relief in Aaron's eyes, like he wanted to hide. "Callum, come with me." Tamara and Aaron froze and exchanged an expression. Only Callum? He was going to be so mad.

"What? But I-that's not fair." It was obvious that Call was also confused.

Rufus's face was dangerously red. "Come. With. Me. NOW."

Callum did as he said and when he looked at Tamara and Aaron for support they both stared at the floor. Was it bad that Tamara felt a bit of relief?

Once Call and Master Rufus were gone. The two left in the room exchanged a frightened look. They had just begun to get along with Call and now he was getting in trouble on their account. This was terrible.

"I feel horrible." Aaron said.

"He's going to start hating us again." Tamara said.

Alex Strike came into the room. "Master Rufus says to keep sorting sand. The normal way." He looked furious.

"Alex . . ."

"Save it, Tamara. I can't believe you would do that. You know the dangers and the risks. You've experienced them firsthand! You should know better!" Alex was shaking his head.

"Will you tell Kimiya?"

He sighed, "No. I won't tell Kimiya. But it's for her sake, not yours. If she learned that you've been using this magic, it'll break her."

"Alex-"

"No, Tamara." And he walked out.

"You know him?" Aaron asked.

"He's Kimiya's boyfriend." Tamara said numbly.

"Why was he so mad at you?"

"Because I should have known better." Tamara said. "Because of me we'll never stop sorting sand. We used something very dangerous and I knew what could have happened."

They worked in silence and when Callum came back into the room, his eyes red, Tamara said nothing and kept sorting the sand. He didn't say anything to them either. He was probably so mad at them. She should've said something. She should've. But she didn't. She said nothing.


End file.
